More of the Same

Yeah, this is a good sign:

Garry Kasparov, the former chess champion and opposition leader, was arrested Saturday and sentenced to five days in jail after trying to lead a march to the offices of the federal election authorities.

Mr. Kasparov was taken into custody during a scuffle between protesters and security officers on the route to the offices, where he had intended to present a letter asserting that the parliamentary election on Dec. 2 was biased toward President Vladimir V. Putin's party.

Taken into a small bus, he gave a victory sign through the back window as he was being driven away.

On Saturday night, a Moscow judge ordered him to serve five days in jail for holding an unauthorized march. City officials had given his loose opposition coalition, Other Russia, permission to conduct a rally on Saturday, but not a march.

In a statement, Mr. Kasparov said the court proceedings had been “a choreographed farce from beginning to end.” He added, “It was a symbol of what has happened to justice and the rule of law under Putin.”

I think we can all agree that President Bush misfired just a touch when he looked into Putin's soul. I mean, they've threatened missile attacks, they have opened reeducation camps, and now have moved on to arresting protesters.

Putin's ploys a power are pretty transparent. And he's trying to move towards tin-pot dictator status like Castro, Chavez, and Kim Jong-il....